Adjustable curtain-fixture.



E. B. SMITH. ADJUSTABLE CURTAIN FIXTURE;

APPLICATION FILED AUG-29, 1914.

Patented J um 27, 1916.

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EZRA B. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO H. B. DODGE & COMPANY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ADJUSTABLE CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27,1916.

Application fi1ed August 29, 1914. Serial No. 859,161.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EZRA B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Adjustable Curtain-Fixtures, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to provide simple and novel fixtures for shades or curtains which will permit the shade or curtains, together with their rollers to be shifted bodily for the purpose of bringing them into various diiferent positions along the openings to be controlled thereby.

A further object of my invention is to produce fixtures of the character specified which will operate effectually even when applied to window casings or the like which have been warped so that the sides thereof are no longer parallel.

A further object of my invention is to produce fixtures which shall be self-locking so that if a curtain or shade roller should become loose at one end it will be positively locked and supported at the other end.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel means forlocking the rectangular shank of a curtain roller to the slid on which the corresponding end of the roller is supported, so as to make it unnecessary to make any change in the shape of the shank ordinarily found on curtain rollers.

A further object of my invention is to provide'simple and novel fixtures for shades or curtains of the kind adapted to permit the latter to be raised and lowered bodily,

without making it necessary for the person installing the fixtures to use any tools except a screw driver or a hammer.

The present invention relates to fixtures of the kind shown in my prior Patent 994,794 granted June18, 1911 and, in one of its aspects, may be regarded as comprising improvements on the device disclosed in that patent.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its various objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed desoription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a set of fixtures arranged in'accordance with the present invention, the roller between the fixtures on opposite sides having the central portion broken away; Fig. 2 is a view of the left hand slide shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the left; Fig. 3 is a side view of the locking dog for the rectangular shank of the curtain roller; Fig. l is a horizontal section through the left hand fixture shown in Fig. 1, at approximately the axis of the roller, the roller being shown in plan; Fig.

5 is a side view of the right hand slide shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the right; and Fig. 6 is a section taken approximately on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a curtain roller which is adapted to be supported between opposed vertical members, 2 and 3, of a window frame. On the members 2 and 3 are channel shaped tracks, 4: and 5, along which roller-supporting slides, 6 and 7, are adapted to run. The slides 6 and 7 are supported upon the lower ends of suitable cords or cables, 8 and 9, which are ex tended to the top of the window frame in the usual way. The slide 6 is shown as taking approximately the same shape asthatin my prior patent, being formed of a piece of strong sheet metal havingits long edges folded inwardly and then outwardly, the latter portions interlocking with the track and preventing the slide from being withdrawn in a lateral direction while allowing perfect freedom of movement in the vertical direction. The memberfi is provided with a vrectangular slot, 10, which is preferably bounded at the two vertical. sides by means of flanges, 11, formed by bending outwardly the metal whichmust be displaced in order to produce the opening 10. The opening 10 is preferably made slightly wider and slightly higher than the corresponding dimensions of the rectangular shanks usually encountered on curtain poles, so as to permit such a shank, 12, to be readily inserted. It

will be seen that the flanges 11 prevent the Y shank 12 from entering too far and thus introducing the danger that it will catch on the screws or other fastening means for the track. In my patented construction I have formed in the shank a notch which prevents the roller from being withdrawn in the horizontal direction, but this makes it necessary for the person who is installing the fixture to file a notch in the shank and, if there should not happen to be on hand a file or the proper kind of a file, or if the notch be not filed properly, the shank will not be held securely.

One of the purposes of the present inven- 15, which is adapted to project laterally and preventthe dog from rocking or swlnging in the slide. In the upper end of the dog is an elongated slot, 16, through which the cord or cable 8 -may pass freely without interfering with the dog. The upper edge of the dog is bent laterally, as indicated at 17, so as to provide a finger piece by which the dog may be lifted and also a stop to prevent the dog from dropping down through the slot. The slide has a hole, 18, registering with the portion of the slot 16, the cord or cable 8 passing through this hole. The parts are. so proportioned that when the dog is lifted to a predetermined position, the opening 10 in the slide is left unobstructed and the shank 12 may be freely inserted therein. Then, when the dog is released, it drops down by gravity, and its sharp edge bites into one of the up per corners of the shank and locks the shank securely in place.-

In my prior patented construction, the

journaled end of the roller is supported on an elongated stud carried by the corresponding slide and projecting into an elongated opening in the end of the roller. This affords axial play to the roller, but it necessitates the boring of a hole in the end of the roller "and also the application of a small bearing plate, both operations which the workman installing the fixture does not like to perform and may therefore perform carelessly. V

One of the features of the present invention consistsin a simple arrangement which combines all of the advantages of my prior construction, but eliminates the disadvantages, making it unnecessary to bore a hole in or fasten a plate to the curtain roller; therefore making it unnecessary that a drill of the proper size be at hand when a fixture is to be installed and decreasing considerably the amount of labor involved in the installation. To this end I form a slide, 7, of a piece of thin spring metal, preferably temwith the track and may therefore be flexed or r bowed at will. In this central free portion of the slide I form a keyhole slot, 20, the larger end of which 1s at the top while the smaller end at the bottom is preferably reinforced, as indicated at 21, by upsetting or bending inwardly a portion of the metal which must be displaced to form the slot. The adjacent end of the roller is provided with a headed nail or screw, 19, driven into the same at the aXis thereof far enough to leave only a short portion of the shank 6X- posed between the end of the roller and the head of the nail or screw. The parts are so proportioned that the head of the nail or screw will pass readily through the large portion at the top of the keyhole slot but will not pass through the narrow portion. The parts are assembled, as shown, by inserting the head of the nail or screw through the large portion of the keyhole slot and moving the roller and the slide relatively in the ver- 'tical direction so as to bring the shank into the reinforced lower portion of the slot which forms a bearing of considerable length and therefore avoids cutting into the shank of the nail or screw as would be the case if the latter rested on a sharp edge. It will be seen that all that the workman has to do is to drive in the nail or screw and then slip the head through the slot in the slide; no special tools being required and the work be ing extremely simple.

As in my prior patented construction, if the left hand end of the roller should become disengaged from its fixture, the right hand end would still be held by the slide. Furthermore, when the distance between the tracks varies, due to warping of or uneven construction in the window frames, 01" from other causes, the flexible resilient slide 7 will yield, making the curvature of the central portion greater or less, as may be necessary, so as to compensate automatically for the variation in the distance between the tracks. The cable 9 may be passed through a hole, 23, in the upper end of the slide 7 While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a curtain roller having a shank on one end, a support having a slot for receiving the shank, and a gravity wedge carried by said support and extending down one side of said shank, said wedge being provided with a knife edge at the side in engagement with the shank.

2. In combination, a curtain roller having a shank on one end, a support having a slot for receiving the shank, and a gravity wedge carried by said support and extending down one side of the shank, said wedge having an opening therethrough and a flexible member connected to said support and extending through said opening.

3. In combination, a curtain roller, two

tracks between which the curtain roller extends, means between one end of the roller and the adjacent track for slidably supporting the roller on that track and holding it against endwise movement with respect thereto, a bowed slide of spring metal having at its ends shoulders interlocking with the other track, and means connecting the latter slide at an intermediate point with the adjacent end of the roller.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EZRA B. SMITH.

' Witnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREIGH, RUTH E. ZETTERVALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

